PROOF that stripping out your car makes it no faster

[kds19]

i think d1 street legal in japan the rules are that the car must have a full interior just front bucket seats
its strange how much different places differ

[jtbo]

i think d1 street legal in japan the rules are that the car must have a full interior just front bucket seats
its strange how much different places differ

Also in different series there are lot of differences, JGTC probably don't allow interiors.

Drifting is such a new sport, they have not learned yet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkWaxSztbBg

[mat_91]

i still cant under stand how you think it makes no difference at all
when clearly it does its not going to me massive but it does make a difference

[Speedy88]

I think the point is that it's such a minimal difference it ends up being more trouble than it's worth.

[jtbo]

I think the point is that it's such a minimal difference it ends up being more trouble than it's worth.

Yes, that and also what good it does is nearly matched by weight distribution changes, that is for track driving, for drifting it might be all beneficial loosing weight from rear, I don't know and really don't even care that much.

Point is also that when something is done, better done it right than just do because everyone else do or because they do it in racing, people but bigger wheels, lowering, strip interiors, some put then huge speakers in trunk that probably weight more than interior, wheels making unsprung masses higher and if done enough large they mess gear ratios so that car is not in powerband after shifting. Sometimes there is just no reasoning behind action, what was meant to be improvement can be a set back really if not understanding basics and idea behind modification. This also means that one should try to learn what else is changed when doing modification so that there would be that basic understanding of how things work.

I mean, you can shoot blindfolded too, but what's the point?

[mat_91]

i know what you mean thinking about what it does not just doin it because other people are doing it
but when saying it makes no difference at all which is completely not true
and then to compare it to two different cars doesn't mean anything anyway to many variables engine driver etc

[Speedy88]

Sure ok, it makes a difference. If I was about to enter my car into a professional racing league I would strip it out, park a bucket seat and even take the dash out to save weight. All my windows would be poly too, all unnecessary wiring would be removed and the engine would be tuned into oblivion. I'd also probably use a short range diff to give it more acceleration. Combined together you'll begin to shave seconds off lap times and pull away from competitors. But I personally wouldn't do it because I use the car as a daily driver. Although I'm running it in motor sport now (first event this weekend hopefully) I wouldn't strip it out unless the regulations told me to. Because, hell I like dashboards and radios and seats and stuff for my 4 passengers to sit on. I also like my massive chav box in the boot that makes the car vibrate to dubstep. I bet good money that it won't make a noticeable difference when I run it in slaloms though.

Does that make sense? If you enjoy driving a tin around then by all means, that's personal choice, I have no issues with that. But I bet you've left the dash in right? And the radio? The car is lighter, but you will gain nothing unless you are racing on a track with good tyres and refurbished and tuned components.

I also get the idea of doing it for aestheticism, it's pretty cool to drive around and be able to say "yep, this is a rally car". But this isn't what you're saying, you talk like you are gaining 5hp from hampering the car as a daily.

[jtbo]

i know what you mean thinking about what it does not just doin it because other people are doing it
but when saying it makes no difference at all which is completely not true
and then to compare it to two different cars doesn't mean anything anyway to many variables engine driver etc

I have never said such thing, it just can be in quite few cases that difference is not where it was intended to be.

[Edcase 300]

I understand to some degree what putting huge diametre wheels could potentially do to a cars acceleration/powerband charactersitics.

Question for you guys to answer: With 15 inch Low Profile wheels-is there any marked innaccuracy in the Speedometer reading? I mean does it affect it a lot?

Have any of you got your speedometres re-callibrated? How critical/important would it be to do so?

(Im considering new wheels eventually-definatley a wider tread tyre to-& maybe 15 inch instead of 14 inch) ... Ideas?

[Speedy88]

I think 15s make it almost bang on what it should be, with 13s it's about 2mph out.

[volvodspec]

195/50/15 makes the exact same outer diameter as the stock wheels, it just looks better

[jtbo]

I understand to some degree what putting huge diametre wheels could potentially do to a cars acceleration/powerband charactersitics.

Question for you guys to answer: With 15 inch Low Profile wheels-is there any marked innaccuracy in the Speedometer reading? I mean does it affect it a lot?

Have any of you got your speedometres re-callibrated? How critical/important would it be to do so?

(Im considering new wheels eventually-definatley a wider tread tyre to-& maybe 15 inch instead of 14 inch) ... Ideas?

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/tiretech.jsp

[mat_91]

im not getting in a big row about this as all that weight will slow you down when i stripped my interior out the car went faster simple
my friend is in to all them big subs lark when he stripped it all out to redo his system the car flew past me when before i beat him constantly
have you took your interior out and all that sound deading sheet stuff as it dont half weight some
and i would love to take my dash out as its piggin ugly but insurance say its a big no no as its part of your safety stuff so its staying for now

[volvosneverdie]

Stickers.

Nobody can explain it, but they DO make cars go faster too.

Im no scientist. But you cant argue with fact.

[jtbo]

im not getting in a big row about this as all that weight will slow you down when i stripped my interior out the car went faster simple
my friend is in to all them big subs lark when he stripped it all out to redo his system the car flew past me when before i beat him constantly
have you took your interior out and all that sound deading sheet stuff as it dont half weight some
and i would love to take my dash out as its piggin ugly but insurance say its a big no no as its part of your safety stuff so its staying for now

Acceleration on straight line or drifting, meaningless, how it goes on track, that is only interest of mine as it stresses all the different situations more or less equally. You are thinking straight line acceleration, that is different story, anyone can do the math what 100kg has effect in theory, but on track, as in this test at first test, it just don't go as linearly.

That is what I told earlier about different usages, there are also differences in cars, other gains from different things better than other car, depending how it is build originally.

On track, I would not trade off my weight balance to small weight reduction, air resistance is still hurting my laps worse than extra weight because getting weight off would mess weight distribution, unless I do other things too, like moving battery to back, where situation changes again and there is clear benefit from weight reduction.

Bigger wheels and tires, I did read story from Porsche guys, one went from 17" tires to 18" bit wider tires, he lost top speed, but lap times were still around same, in careful analysis it showed up that he could brake later, turn in bit faster, but when accelerating tires offered so much more work for motor that he ended up to same times. If he had installed bigger brakes, maybe he had been able to get more of his tire upgrade and gain some time. This also varies from case to case how things go, straight line, drifting, that is not my cup of tea, so I talk only about racing around track.

I did not get much of improvement from megasquirt + K-cam on track, even I had lot more power under pedal on street, reason was because I could not keep car on powerband in turns where it mattered the most, to be able to gain from that I should of changed my diff ratio so that car would of been in powerband whole time.

It is always question of balance and purpose, for street usage my upgrade was perfect, for track usage not much of upgrade.

So it is impossible to claim that stripping interior would help, as it may do so in your application, but it might cause more of trouble than it is worth in some other application.

Oh and indeed, stickers do help, they are good for hiding those rust spots, that is why race cars have so many of them, they secretly have drilled lot of holes to bodywork